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Rebel
Flags
After
the attack on Fort
Sumter on April
12, 1861 more states
joined the southern
uprising and the
flag was changed
from the stars
and bars to what
is now the most
controversial flag
in the USA, the
battle flag of
Confederate States
of America (C.S.A.)
This flag has a white border with
a red field and is usually square.
Thirteen white stars appeared on
a blue Saint Andrew's cross edged
in white. The thirteen stars were
for the thirteen states that were
to make up the confederacy, but
the voting for secession in Kentucky
and Missouri was irregular, so
the C.S.A. remained at 11 states.
It is not known who created this
battle flag or how they arrived
at the design. Some folks think
that the C.S.A. put the St. Andrew's
Cross on its flag because of the
Scottish heritage of the south.
Saint Andrew was one of the first
Apostles of Christ and the patron
saint for Russia and Scotland.
He was a follower of John the Baptist
and went through his life leading
people to Jesus. Like the Scottish
national flag, the Saint Andrew's
Cross has been used on flags for
centuries. The media prefers to
refer to the St. Andrew's Cross
on the Confederate battle flag
as the letter X. In fact, it is
not the letter X but rather a cross.
The reason this X shape is known
as a Saint Andrew Cross is because
the Saint was crucified on an X-shaped
cross. 
The Confederate Battle Flag gained
its offensive reputation during
the 1940s when it was taken up
as the standard of the Ku Klux
Klan. Before that, the Klan used
the American flag and Christian
crosses as their symbols. It seems
that now that anything with the
word Confederate in it is a target
for abuse. The Confederate Air
Force was pressured to changing
their name to the Commemorative
Air Force because of the latest
hoopla over the Confederate flag.
They were losing air show bookings
because promoters did not want
to be associated with anything
that had the word Confederate in
it.
Tattoo
Archive © 2003
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